What happens if I roll a frameless dump

Third rule of trucking when God built mountains for us to climb.

Thou shalt not roll thine 18 wheeler. Ever.

To roll a 18 wheeler is considered a form of really bad, outrageous driving where you the professional should know better. You can pretty much consider it a massive headahce and make you potentially not hireable for years after. You would be so lucky to survive a roll. There are places where you might drop a thousand feet breaking a bone in the cab as you tumble like inside a dryer to your death.

 

Watch for power lines too

I know a guy that raised his frameless into a power line and got killed

 

The only good thing is the frameless will likely go by itself and leave the tractor upright. You just need to find a flat spot, and that flat spot has to extend about 15 feet in front of the trailer axles because it's going to go forward.

 

Got a lot of acquaintances who drag dumps.

It ain't IF you roll...it's WHEN!

Obviously, do absolutely everything you can to prevent a roll. Check the ground, watch for wind, make sure the load is centered, EVERYTHING. But also make peace with the fact dump trailers are very very tippy SOBs. Slag or asphalt caught in the wrong corner, and unseen soft spot in the ground, a gust of wind at just the wrong time, and OVER SHE GOES!

So also make very very sure to check yourself! Always have an escape route planned, and keep outta her way! If she's gonna go, she's gonna go.

Honestly, IF you do every part of your job correctly and the blasted thing still decides to take a nap on a job site, that is not a career killer. That is the nature of the business.

Just don't EVER EVER EVER roll the darned thing on the road! That is completely on you as the driver and that WILL keep you from driving ever again.

 

OH. Well its bigger than my Super 500 mack dump. The prinicple is the same.

Pour a dallop of coffee where you intend to put the end dump tandems, see which way the liquid goes. THAT is where that dump is going to lean to. Hopefully you have no slope at all or better yet a little bit towards your tractor.

You will be easing out as you dump on open ground OR a COOP will have you on a whole lift dumping for you.

I had one load of dirt in a man's yard where there was too much slope under my mack. My high side wheels upslope leaning to right side started lifting right off the ground on all of my left wheels. I stopped the lift of that dump bed. Got out and eyeballed everything.

Raised the lift just a little more and that poor mack pretty much compressed all the suspension (Steel) on the right side forward and back.

I hopped out told my Boss and dump truck owner, YOU finish this dump. I don't get paid enough to BUY you a new truck plus whatever I ruin trying to dump and flip over in this man's backyard.

Owner to his credit got in and finished the dump for me. I just wont do it.

Ive done things with that dump, ive cut cables for TV to house owner pouring out gravel 50 yards downhill. You don't stop. So cut the cable and keep going, fix it fast. Make profuse apologys.

Power cabling on the other hand.. tsk tsk tsk. You will end up in front of St Peter still smoking wondering what the hell happened. There is like 8000 volts on a typical pole near the service drop to a home driven by god only knows how many thousands of amps. You never have enough tires for a ground. And they will kill anyone standing next to you too.

 

Cue Circus music....

 

Dont overly stress about it. For the last 2 years, ive hauled framless end dumps and smooth bore tankers for the same company. You just need to bring your A game and focus daily, expect the unexpected.

The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll become. Just dont get ####y or let your guard down, depending on variables, its just as easy to roll a smooth bore on an exit ramp as tipping an end dump over.

Over the winter, a coworker let material freeze up like concrete at the front of the dump, he rolled pretty quick. The trailer is sacrificial, the truck stayed uptight, he didnt get fired. You can bet now, every 3 days after his day is done, he's back there hand shoveling so it doesnt happen again.